Chemical homogeneity in the Orion Association: Oxygen abundances of B stars

K. Cunha^1,2a, I. Hubeny² and T. Lanz³

¹ Observatorio Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
² University of Arizona, Steward Observatory, USA
³ University of Maryland, USA

^a e-mail: katia@on.br

Published online: 07 February 2012

Abstract

We present non-LTE oxygen abundances for a sample of B stars in the Orion association. The abundance calculations included non-LTE line formation and used fully blanketed non-LTE model atmospheres. The stellar parameters were the same as adopted in the previous study by Cunha & Lambert (1994). We find that the young Orion stars in this sample of 10 stars are described by a single oxygen abundance with an average value of A(O) = 8.78 and a small dispersion of ±0.05, dex which is of the order of the uncertainties in the analysis. This average oxygen abundance compares well with the average oxygen abundance obtained previously in Cunha & Lambert (1994): A(O) = 8.72 ± 0.13 although this earlier study, based upon non-blanketed model atmospheres in LTE, displayed larger scatter. Small scatter of chemical abundances in Orion B stars had also been found in our previous studies for neon and argon; all based on the same effective temperature scale. The derived oxygen abundance distribution for the Orion association compares well with other results for the oxygen abundance in the solar neighborhood.